


Champions

by KadiRose0101



Series: The Killer's Daughter [16]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:20:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27589436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KadiRose0101/pseuds/KadiRose0101
Summary: Euphemia goes through a difficult day of classes and the Triwizard champions are chosen.
Relationships: Fred Weasley/George Weasley, George Weasley/Euphemia Black
Series: The Killer's Daughter [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1997173
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Champions

"I've crossed some invisible line. I feel as if I've come to a place I never thought I'd have to come to. And I don't know how I got here. It's a strange place. It's a place where a little harmless dreaming and then some sleep, early-morning talk has led me into considerations of death and annihilation."  
\- Raymond Carver, Where I'm Calling From

16\. Champions

On Thursday morning, Euphemia woke up to Ceti lying on top of her chest with her face very close to Euphemia's. The cat meowed softly as she woke up and started to stir more. She moved the cat off of her chest and onto the side of her bed, before swinging her legs over and stretching her arms above her head.

Euphemia stood up and began to get ready for the day. She pulled on her regular sweater over a white button-up with her tie and decided on a skirt today instead of slacks. She pulled on some knee-high socks and then pulled on her black flats. She walked over to the bathroom and adjusted her tie to make sure it was even and not crooked.

As she looked in the mirror, she found that she was wanting to experiment with her hair color. First, she started with dark green but found that it didn't work well with the Gryffindor colors. It felt too Slytherin-y. She thought for a moment before remembering what George had said about her pink hair on Monday. She turned it to fuchsia and smiled at the vibrant pink that now sat atop her head. She fluffed her hair up a little and then shot finger guns at herself in the mirror before cringing at her silliness.

She walked out of the bathroom and grabbed her bookbag, slinging it over her shoulder. Before she left the dorm, she sifted through her trunk and pulled out a lavender-colored scrunchie in case she decided to pull her hair up out of her face later. She gave Ceti one more scratch on her head and headed out of the dorm.

Down in the common room, Euphemia spotted George talking to Lee about some quidditch plays. She walked up behind him and poked his sides as he had done the other day. He practically jumped out of his shoes before settling back down and turning around to see her. His face lit up with a smile as he noticed her pink hair and amused smile.

"Back to the pink hair? Did I do something?" He asked with a smile.

Euphemia shrugged her shoulders. "You said pink was a good color for me, I figured I would make a change and stray away from the white for a while." She explained to him with a small smile.

"I like it," he said and leaned down to place a kiss on her lips. She met him halfway and savored the small kiss.

Lee joked and acted like he was gagging. They pulled apart and Euphemia blushed and George elbowed Lee in the stomach gently.

Euphemia really couldn't blame Lee and any of George's other friends. They had both been rather clingy since they first started dating, but she had figured that that was normal. Maybe it was a bit overboard and she decided to tone down the kissing at least unless George initiated. She didn't want to make his friends uncomfortable if that's how they were feeling.

George grabbed her hand and squeezed and she squeezed back. They walked down to breakfast and sat down in their spots. Euphemia grabbed some toast and a glass of orange juice, but nothing more than that as it was still rather early in the morning.

The first class of the day would be Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall. Euphemia was rather excited as McGonagall was her favorite professor in the entire school except for Sprout.

Once they were finished with their breakfast, George walked her to her class with a short goodbye. She found her seat toward the front of the room and pulled out her textbook, a notebook, quill, and ink. She waited quietly as other students filed into the room. Hermione took a seat next to her and they made small talk on some of the spells they were going to learn through the year.

McGonagall walked into the room and the classroom went silent. She walked with her ever-regal posture and stopped at the front of the room. She looked out over the students before beginning her introduction.

"Good morning class. It's good to have you all back for another year." McGonagall said, giving them a warm welcome. Euphemia already felt excited. "As you know, I don't accept any foolishness in this classroom. All assignments shall be turned in on time and given the most effort possible. I intend to start teaching you as much as possible since you will have your O.W.L's next year and you need to adjust to a heavier workload." She explained to them before rambling on to other important topics like the rules to be followed in the classroom.

Soon enough they were onto the lesson and learning how to transform hedgehogs into pincushions. McGonagall first taught them the wand movement for the spell and then she had them start practicing on the hedgehogs. Very quickly, both Euphemia and Hermione turned their hedgehogs into pincushions while the rest of the students sat around them, trying their absolute hardest to complete the transfiguration spell.

Harry was the next to complete the process and sat with a pincushion in front of him. A majority of the students were unsuccessful through the class period but had at least gotten the hedgehog's spines to turn silver in color, but not resembling pins. Harry had come up with them to work more on the spell for turning them back while they also chatted a tiny bit.

McGonagall usually wouldn't allow students to move from their seats, but seeing as they were the only three that had been successful, she had decided to make an exception.

"How do you two always get the spells so quickly?" Harry asked, wondering at the two intelligent girls.

Euphemia shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, sometimes different things just come easily."

"Why are you asking though? You got it just after us." Hermione pointed out to the boy.

Harry sighed and shook his head back and forth, dropping the topic altogether and looking down at the hedgehog sitting on the desk. It was sniffing around the desk and had soon crawled into Harry's hand, nuzzling in his palm for a short nap.

Soon enough Transfiguration came to an end and they were off to their next classes. Her second class of the day was Muggle Studies, but that was a rather easy one. She basically had it there to fill an empty period. After that, she was headed off to Defense Against the Dark Arts.

As she walked up the winding stairs to the classroom, she looked at the windows on the ascending tower, seeing that it was raining once again. It was oddly gloomy for the first week of classes, but she knew that it was just the irregular weather of Scotland, ever-changing and unpredictable. Hermione had caught up with her eventually and they walked into the classroom together.

They took their seats and pulled out their textbooks for their next class period. There was no teacher standing at the front of the room so the students sat at their desks, waiting for their professor to appear and start class.

Soon there was a loud slam of a door shutting and heavy boots thumping on the ground. Everyone whipped around in their seats to look at the newcomer entering the classroom. The man that had entered had roughly shoulder-length hair, wearing heavy long robes and he had a mechanical eye that swiveled around wildly, searching for something. He strode through the rows of desks of Gryffindors and Slytherins before stopping in front of the blackboard and picking up a piece of chalk.

He began writing. "Alastor Moody," he said before slamming the piece of chalk back down onto the ledge. "Ministry malcontent. And your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I'm here because Dumbledore asked me, the end of the story, goodbye, the end. Any questions?" He paused for a moment and realized that no one was going to pipe up with any questions, resumed his lesson.

"When it comes to the dark arts, I believe in a practical approach. But first, which of you can tell me how many unforgivable curses there are?" He asked the class.

Euphemia felt chills run through her body, thinking about the grim subject that had just been brought up by their new professor. No one enjoyed talking about unforgivable curses as it was a touchy subject from the first wizarding war. Some dark wizards still used these curses and it always had a lasting effect.

Hermione spoke up. "Three, sir." She said shyly.

He turned to her with an intense stare. "And why are they named so?"

"Because they are unforgivable. Use of any one of them will-" Hermione continued but was cut off as Moody went off.

"Will earn you a one-way ticket to Azkaban. Correct. Now the ministry says you're too young to see what these curses do. I say different." He said intensely. "You need to know what you're up against, you need to be prepared. So, which curse shall we see first? Weasley!" He shouted.

Ron visibly jumped in his seat. "Yes?" He asked shakily.

"Give us a curse," Moody urged.

"The imperious curse," he suggested.

"Yes. Well, I suppose I should show you some examples." Moody walked over to a jar and pulled out a spider and spoke sweet little words to it to calm down the creature. He levitated the spider around the room and in front of other students.

He chuckled. "Don't worry, she's completely harmless." He paused. "But if she bites... she's lethal!" Draco started laughing. "Why are you laughing?" The professor asked.

He sent the spider onto Draco's face and Euphemia laughed as he looked like he was about to piss himself. She couldn't help but laugh at her cousin for acting foolishly.

"What shall I have her do next? Jump out of the window? Drown herself?" Moody spoke with a sinister grin coating his face. He hovered the spider over a bucket of water and it started wriggling around in midair, trying to find a way to a safe surface.

Euphemia felt herself tensing at the sight and slight screeching coming from the poor animal. Her hair had fallen over her shoulders and she could see that it was now turning dark blue.

The professor lifted the spider away from the water and set her on a small pedestal on his desk. He looked out over the class and his eyes landed on Euphemia who wanted to do nothing more than fade into nothingness. Something about Moody felt off like he had sinister intentions. He stared for a few more seconds before turning his gaze to Neville.

"Mr. Longbottom, can you name another?" He asked the nervous-looking boy.

Neville nodded anxiously. "T-the cruciatus curse," he muttered out just loud enough for the professor to hear.

Euphemia paled even more than she already was, to begin with. She started knocking her hand on her leg out of anxiety. Something about the topic made her wildly uncomfortable. Maybe it was the fact that she didn't want it to happen to her or that she had grown up with the last name of people who had been known to use those exact curses. It was like a repeat of last year, not wanting to be like her family of insane individuals and murderers following Voldemort and doing his bidding.

Hermione looked over to Euphemia with concerned eyes and placed a hand on top of the one on her desk and squeezed lightly before retracting it to her own lap.

"Very good, Mr. Longbottom. Come on up here for a moment," Moody spoke and then gestured for Neville to come to the front of the classroom.

What is this loon planning? Euphemia thought to herself.

The professor turned to the class. "The cruciatus curse will cause excruciating pain to the one the curse is cast on. It is mostly known from You-Know-Who casting it to try and extract information from different sources." He then turned back to the spider and lifted his wand before speaking the small incantation.

"Crucio," he spoke and the spider started screeching.

Tears came to Euphemia's eyes and she turned her body away from the scene and clamped her hands over her ears, trying to block out the sounds but it didn't work. Apparently, it had bothered Neville enough as well because Hermione had started shouting.

"Stop, stop it! Can't you see it's bothering them!" She shouted and then the screeching stopped.

Euphemia hadn't noticed, but a tear had fallen on her face. She wiped it away but turned back slightly just as heavy footsteps started walking towards their desk. The spider landed on their desk, still cowering, trying to find some protection. Euphemia didn't look up at the professor based on fear.

He stood right in front of her and she felt frozen. "Ms. Black, would you kindly tell us the final curse?" He asked.

More tears came to her eyes and noticed that the whole class was staring at the interaction that was taking place. She felt that same creeping insanity that she felt after the whole boggart lesson last year.

"T-the k-killing curse," she muttered. Quick to follow, Moody uttered the curse.

"Avada Kedavra," he spoke with his wand pointed at the spider and a bright green flash popped into her vision, and then there was a dead creature sitting on her desk. Another tear fell down her face and she covered her face with her hands.

She felt everyone's eyes on her and felt like she couldn't stand it any longer. She picked up her book bag and stood up from her desk, quickly running out of the room, barely taking time to look where she was going before making a swift exit. She kept turning and hoped she was heading in the right direction for the astronomy tower. It was the most isolated area she could think of.

Thankfully, she had found the staircase leading up to the astronomy tower and ascended the stairs. She walked over to the railing and set her bag down before sitting and swinging her legs over the ledge, resting her arms on the lower railing. Tears fell freely from her face, but she didn't care at that moment since no one else was around.

She stared out over the grounds of Hogwarts as she thought about the events of the class. Her emotions had hit her like a ton of bricks when she heard the word cruciatus. Why did that word have some impact? Of course, it was the name of an unforgivable curse that caused immense pain, but she had never experienced the pain herself so she didn't quite get why it hit her so hard.

She thought about her family members who had been put into Azkaban due to using these curses and how horrible they were, Bellatrix being the worst, having tortured Neville's parents into insanity. Bellatrix had become unhinged due to a personal loss and found that her 'true calling' was to follow Voldemort. Euphemia hoped that she would never have to speak to the woman again after hearing about her atrocities.

Eventually, she started to feel a headache coming on and she forced herself to stop crying as she knew that continuing with this behavior wouldn't get her anywhere. She took a few deep breaths and looked out over the grounds for a few more minutes before standing up from the floor. The cool air of Scotland had given made goosebumps spread across her skin and became chilled.

Euphemia grabbed her book bag off of the floor and slung it over her shoulder, pulling it close to her body. She rubbed her arms to warm herself up a little bit before walking down the stairs to the halls of the school. They were still empty and she wondered what time it was. She cast a quick Tempus and found that it was already noon. Everyone should be at lunch.

She stopped in the girls' lavatory to try and fix herself up if she had become disheveled at any point. She could see that the mascara she had applied earlier was running down her face. She wiped it off of her face and was revealed to see white eyelashes.

Euphemia finished cleaning up and walked out of the lavatory to see George just walking down the hall. He stopped when they saw her emerge from the doorway. She halted in her tracks with wide eyes, like a deer caught in the headlights. He smiled at her and approached her. However, his smile turned to confusion and then concern. She tried to give them a smile, but it barely showed.

"Why do you look like you've done something wrong?" He asked her jokingly, but her hair turned dark blue. He then noticed the tear tracks that were still lingering on her cheeks.

Euphemia looked down. "I-I mean, I k-kind of ran out of class. So, t-technically I should be in t-trouble." She spoke, stuttering heavily.

George placed his hands on her arms and rubbed up and down, trying to comfort her. "Don't worry, darling. I'm not one to tell, please don't worry." He spoke, soothing her gently. He grabbed her hand and standing pulling her along, not trying to rush her. "What happened in class that made you dash out?" He questioned softly.

She took a deep breath before speaking. "U-unforgivable curses," she stated, stumbling over the words.

He squeezed her hand tighter and pulled her a little closer. "That's definitely not an easy subject, did he actually demonstrate them?" All she could do was nod. "Merlin, I can understand why you were spooked."

"I-it was more than spooked though, I was genuinely scared like he was going to turn his wand on me. Something felt off and it stirred something up in me. It was w-weird. He asked Ron about one and he mentioned the imperious curse, and then Neville mentioned the cruciatus curse." She paused. "He killed the spider on my desk after he asked me what the final curse was."

He pulled her close and placed a kiss on the top of her head. She sighed in contentment, the warm arms of George wrapping around her, soothing her flustered soul for just a moment. He didn't say anything about the matter because he didn't know what to stay to make her feel better. The most he could do was just hold her and show that he was there for her.

Sure, maybe it was just a silly spider, but it was still a living breathing creature and it was so effortlessly killed in a heartless manner in a matter of seconds. It had shaken her to the core knowing that that same spell could end her life in seconds as well if there was a dark witch or wizard who was willing to do it to her. Maybe that was what scared her the most.

Euphemia pulled away from George and grabbed his hand. They made their way toward the great hall to get some food before the rest of their classes. The two sat silently at lunch, Euphemia still feeling silent, not really wanting to converse at the moment. Eventually, Harry walked into the hall and took a seat next to her. He looked at her with a smile before nudging her shoulder.

Harry was the closest thing she had to family at Hogwarts and she loved him for it. "Are you alright?" He asked, noticing her quiet mood. She nodded and gave a weak smile. He took her answer for now and figured maybe she would talk about it later.

Their lunch period ended and soon they were off to their last class for the day. Euphemia was pretty out of it for the class period and sat there making her potion quietly. Potions came easily to her so she didn't need to focus much. She quickly finished her potion with time to spare and sat at her desk doodling flowers on a tiny spare piece of parchment.

Eventually, the class ended and everyone headed towards the Great Hall for dinner. She was in a bit of a better mood now that she had had some time to process. George and Harry sat down with her and Hermione and Ron sat across from them. Fred and Ginny joined them a few moments later.

Everyone was beginning to get excited as the champions would be chosen soon. After dinner was finished, the goblet would be moved into the great hall. Everyone was making their bets on who would be chosen from each school.

Euphemia was feeling much better now and was back to laughing with her friends. She didn't know what it was about the earlier events that had affected her so much, but she decided she wasn't going to let it get to her anymore. She hadn't been hurt and no one had been trying to do so.

The group of friends had noticed that the rows of seats from the smaller hall had been brought into the great hall. The food had been cleared off of the tables and the goblet had been moved into the great hall. The blue flames settled a different hue on the usually warm-colored room. 

The group of friends moved to the bleachers. Euphemia sat a row higher than George and he sat down between her legs. She gently trailed her fingers over his shoulders and then began combing her fingers through his hair. He hummed at the soft touch of her cold fingers and leaned into her more.

She chuckled at his reaction and scraped her nails along his scalp gently. His hair was long enough now that she was able to pull his hair into short braids. He felt his hair after she was done and laughed.

"I bet I look like a girl," he joked.

She laughed and kissed the top of his head. "Ah, yes. But a very pretty girl," she chuckled.

He reached back and pinched her arm to which she yelped. She flicked him in the head and he let out a laugh. The hall was still very loud with everyone talking, but they quieted down when Dumbledore called out for them to hush up.

"We'll be choosing the champions now," he spoke.

He raised his hands and dimmed the lights around the great hall. The blue hue of the goblet quickly swept over the hall. Dumbledore stood nearby the goblet and soon the flames turned red and the room changed colors. There were a few swirls that turned around before a piece of paper flew around the room and down into Dumbledore's hand.

He unfolded the piece of paper. "Our champion, from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic," he paused for dramatic effect. "Fleur Delacour!" He called out.

A few seconds later, an ethereal girl stood up. The signature Beauxbatons blue dress flared out as she stood up and twirled as she spun around. A bright, charming smile sprung onto her face as she walked up to the goblet.

Dumbledore shook her hand and gestured over to a door that was off to the side of the head table. She walked through the door and the headmaster turned back to the goblet. The red flames swirled again before shooting out the second piece of paper.

"Our second champion, from Durmstrang," another dramatic pause. "Viktor Krum!"

The Bulgarian man stood up and cheers erupted from all the girls who crushed over him. A lot of the boys cheered too, Harry and Ron joining the group. The twins and Euphemia sang the song from the world cup gently to the two boys.

"Viktor I love you, Viktor I do, when we're apart my heart beats only for you," they joked and Harry punched her shoulder. She laughed and they tuned back into the events happening around them.

Viktor walked up to Dumbledore and shook his hand and followed the same path that Fleur had taken. He disappeared and Dumbledore went back to the goblet to find out who the final champion would be.

There was another bought of red flames and the final piece of parchment floated through the air. Dumbledore reached up and grabbed it out of the air. He unfolded it and read for a moment before looking up.

"And our final champion, from Hogwarts," he gave a long dramatic pause. "Cedric Diggory!"

The Hogwarts students all let out a cheer and whooped. A lot of the students were surprised that a Hufflepuff had been chosen for the Hogwarts champion. However, this is the saying: You might belong in Hufflepuff, where they are just and loyal. Those patient Hufflepuffs are true and unafraid of toil.

Euphemia would like to think that had she not been sorted into Gryffindor, Hufflepuff would have been her second choice if she had a say in the matter. Harry said he had gotten to choose not to be part of Slytherin and got sorted into Gryffindor instead. The only house Euphemia didn't want to be part of was Slytherin, simply because a lot of the Black family members had been in the snake house.

Cedric followed the same path as Fleur and Viktor had taken. They saw him disappear and the room went back to chatting away. It seemed like the night would be coming to a finish in a few minutes, but something happened that shocked them all.

The hue of the room turned red again. Everyone's heads turned back to the goblet and saw that the flames were rising and they were spiraling again. There was a large burst of fire and then another piece of paper flew out and into Dumbledore's hand. A ball of anxiety sat heavy in her stomach.

Dumbledore grabbed the paper out of the air and unfolded the small piece of parchment. The room was dead silent as the headmaster read the words written there. He looked up and there were so many emotions held there, she couldn't determine which emotion was more prominent.

"Harry Potter," he called out gently.

She heard a sharp inhale from beside her and looked over to Harry. He was trying to shrink back into his seat. She could see the terrifying emotions on his face that were quickly taking over his body. She knew that Harry hadn't put his name into the goblet. If Fred and George couldn't trick the cup, Harry wouldn't be able to do it.

Someone else must have put his name in the cup.

Dumbledore called his name again, louder this time. "Harry Potter!"

Harry shakily stood up and made his way over to Dumbledore. He simply directed Harry in the direction the other three champions had taken and Harry looked back to Euphemia with anxiety evident on his face. 

She mouthed to him 'It'll be alright'. She gave him a weak smile and he nodded. He disappeared through the doorway and Dumbledore addressed the room once more.

"Everyone, go back to your houses. Get some rest and classes will continue tomorrow." He spoke and everyone slowly dispersed.

Euphemia was lost in thought and George squeezed her knee. She tuned back into her surroundings and looked down at her boyfriend with his ginger braided hair. The sight made her chuckle lightly before she thought back to Harry.

"He'll be alright, Euphie." He said and she nodded.

"I know," she said.

He grabbed her hand. "Come on, let's head up." 

She squeezed his hand and allowed him to pull her off of the bleachers. They walked through the hallways and back up to the common room. They walked through the portrait hole and she could hear the frustrated words leaving Ronald Weasley's mouth.

"That bastard, how did he pull that off?" He spoke with an emotion that was almost anger. "He can't get enough of the attention can he!"

Euphemia felt anger entering her body at the harsh words. She knew that Harry didn't want this. He had been thankful that he couldn't enter the competition because of his age. Actually, he was thrilled. He was excited at the prospect of having a normal year after dealing with chaos and drama.

"Oh, shut it, Ron." She said, trying to control herself but still wanting to tell him to hush up.

"What? You think he didn't do it?" He questioned, turning his anger on her.

"Yes. I think someone else put his name in the cup," she exclaimed.

Ron rolled his eyes. "That's rubbish," he groaned. "He's always been in the spotlight, probably wanted more of it."

Euphemia felt sadness enter her and her hair turned black. "How can you say that?" She said. "If you know Harry, you know that he's tired of being the main focus. He hates having all eyes on him. He doesn't want this."

"You're only defending him because you're his sister," he spat out.

She felt hopeless about this conversation. "You know that's not why. I'm defending him because I know him," she said. "And you should too."

"What do you mean?" He said, still rolling his eyes.

"You claim you're his best friend and treat him like a brother, but you can't see through your jealousy to see the true answer." She exclaimed.

Ron flinched for a moment but didn't back down. "Whatever," he said.

George pulled Euphemia away, over to the opposite side of the common room. They took a seat near the windows to see it was raining outside again. Euphemia looked outside and glared.

"He'll get over himself in a bit," George said.

Euphemia looked over to him. "I hope so," she paused. "Harry loves Ron and he's going to be devastated when he finds out that Ron is mad with him."

George leaned over and pulled her close to him. "Ron will pull his head out of his arse eventually and realize he was wrong. They've been friends since their first year and this isn't going to wreck that."

Euphemia nodded and tucked her head under George's chin. The two sat together, cuddling on a lone sofa, and chatted about different things. The portrait hole opened again roughly an hour later and Harry walked in. 

He had a somber look on his face and made a b-line straight for his dorm, not stopping to talk to anyone or even lookup. He almost ran into someone, but dodge them at the last second. 

She was hoping that Ron would drop his act and fix his attitude before going upstairs so that he wouldn't make Harry's night worse, but she knew she couldn't force him to do anything. She could always bribe Ginny with chocolate to bat bogey hex him, but she wasn't sure that would be the best idea.

Just as they had been thinking they might have a normal year, it went completely out of the window.


End file.
